Hillary Clinton Follows Christie to Mexico for Carlos Slim Event

Hillary Clinton will be on hand Sept. 5 for Slim’s annual event to honor his own charity’s scholarship students. Clinton, the former U.S. Secretary of State and First Lady, will become the second potential 2016 presidential candidate to visit Mexico this week, following New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, who arrived today.

A press official for Slim’s foundation confirmed Clinton will be a speaker at the event, which also features Facebook Inc. Chief Executive Officer Mark Zuckerberg, soccer star Ronaldinho and actor Antonio Banderas.

A Slim-backed charity contributed at least $1 million to the Clinton Foundation’s drive to raise $250 million for its endowment. U.S. law bans foreigners such as Slim, who was born in Mexico and continues to live there, from giving to political campaigns, so a possible Clinton presidential run wouldn’t be competing for his dollars.

Potential Republican and Democratic candidates are lining up to court Hispanic voters who proved pivotal in President Barack Obama’s 2012 election victory. Christie arrived in Mexico today for a three-day trade mission, and Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky, an eye surgeon, went to Guatemala last month as part of a pro bono medical team that performed operations to restore the sight of poor patients.

“We have a really full schedule and a lot of extraordinarily interesting folks to meet with -- to be having conversations with -- in the government and private sector,” Christie said today in Mexico City at the start of a meeting with U.S. ambassador Tony Wayne. “I think this will be really productive not only for the state but for me to listen and learn while I’m here.”

Telmex Foundation

Slim, the world’s second-richest man, funds health, education and public-welfare initiatives through his telecommunications company’s Telmex Foundation and through the separate Slim Foundation. Slim trails only Bill Gates among the world’s richest people, with a fortune of $82.4 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.